Method of controlling combustion-engines.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL -WIITANZD, OF COLOGNE, GERMANY.

METHOD OF CONTROLLING COMBUSTION-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 13, 1910. Applicationfiled March 8, 1907. Serial No. 361,223.

No Drawing.

To all whom it, may concern:

Be it knownthat I, PAUL WINAND, engineer, a subject of the King of Belum, residing at 1 Sudermannstrasse, Co ogne-onthe-Rhine, Germany, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of ControllingCombustion-Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Combustion engines which are driven by atmospheric air as the oxygenvehicle are, as is well known, so operated that there is always acertain excess of air present in the charge, in order that the fuel maybe completely utilized, that is, in order that each individual particleof fuel may be united With the amount of oxygen necessary to burn it.The employment of the excess above the theoretically necessary quantityof air is justified because, in ractice, it is not possible, inconsequence of lack of exactness in the regulating devices on the onehand, and in consequence of occasional inequalities in the mixture ofthe charge, or in the composition of one of the elements of the char e,on the other hand, to introduce fuel an air into the combustion chamberin such proportions that a complete union of the two elements takesplace, that is, that the products of combustion contain neitherunconsumed fuel noi unutilized oxygen. In order, therefore, to be surethat no unconsumed fuel is contained in the products of combustion, oneis led to give to the charge an excess of oxy en so that the products ofcombustion, i they must contain an unutilized element of the charge,shall only contain unutilized air.

In operating combustion engines in which combustible fuel is burned bymeans of an oxygen vehicle carried along with the engine as in submarineboats, it is important to utilize the oxygen completely in order toobtain the smallest possible weight of stored material. A completeutilization of the combustible is of minor importance because 3%kilograms of oxygen are required for the complete combustion of onekilogram of liquld hydrocarbon.

The object of the present method is to avoid wasting the oxygen,notwithstanding any inaccuracy in the working of the governin device andnotwithstanding any lack of uniformity in the mixture of the oxygen oroxygen vehicle with the combustible, and also notwithstanding anypossible lack of uniformity in the nature of the combustible and of theoxygen vehicle.

The invention consists primarily in controlling the supply of theoxygen. vehicle to the explosive c arge in such manner that the amountsupplied is not quite suflicient to completely burn the combustible fedto the engine. When thus usin an excess of combustible the amount ofeveloped heat, and consequently the amount of power developed, isdetermined primarily by the amount of oxygen fed to the engine. Theengine may be controlled, therefore, by regulatin the amount of theoxygen vehicle supplie and the amount of the combustible may then beregulated in such manner that the excess of combustible remains withindesired limit-s, so that an approximately com lete utilization of theoxygen vehicle is o tained. It is, however, practically necessary, aspointed out in my co-pendin application, Serial Number 272,621, filedugust 3d, 1905, when using an oxygen vehicle of high oxidizing capacity,to employ also a diluting medium to reduce the temperature which wouldotherwise exist. The diluting medium may, as pointed out in theaforesaid application, consist of an excess of the combust1ble,therebyavoiding the necessity for a separate receptacle for the diluting mediumwith a resu tant economy in weight. The diluting medium may, however,more advantageously consist of a third substance (such as sea water orthe cooled products of combustion) since such a diluting agent ischeaper and is usuall present in the place or locality of use withoutnecessitating a separate rece tacle. But whether the combustible itse fis used as the dilutin medium, or a separate substance is employe thecharacteristic feature of my invention broadly considered is that thecharge always contains more combustible than is necessary to unite withall of the oxygen present, thereby assurin a complete utilization ofvthe oxygen. ore specifically, and in its preferred embodiment, itconsists in the utilization not only of the excess of combustible abovethat necessar to unite with all of the oxygen pres- What I claim is 1.The method of actuating combustion I engines for submarine boats and thelike, in

which the oxidizing element of the combustion charge is an oxygenvehicle having a greater oxidizin capacity than air, which consists inintro ucing into the working cylinder of the engine a given quantity ofthe combustible element and likewise introducing into said workingcylinder a quantity of the oxygen vehicle in amount less than thatnecessary to unite with all of the combustible element present, andthereupon effecting the combustion of the charge in said workingcylinder, whereby, for said combustion charge of the working cylinderthe ox gen of the oxygen vehicle is completely ut' ized and a surplus ofunconsumed combustible remains as a diluent.

2. The method of actuating combustion engines for submarine boats andthe like, in which the oxidizing element of the combustion charge is anoxygen vehicle having a greater oxidizing capacity than air, whichfecting the combustion of the char e in said working cylinder, wherebforsai combustion charge of the wor ing cylinder the oxygen of theoxygen vehicle is completely utilized and a surplus of unconsumecombustible remains as a diluent, and further diluting the charge with aseparate third constituent.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

PAUL WINAND.

Witnesses? .Bnssm F. DUNLAP, LoU'Is VANDORY.

